Tag: Main Course

I cannot say enough positive things about Laksa, despite only have a vague idea of what it is or where originated. According to this mildly confusing Wikipedia article, vagueness is a characteristic of Laksa, being something that seems to be a mish mash recipe from various cultures.

What I can tell you with certainty is this: it’s a soup, it’s a snap to make and it’s absolutely delicious!

JD and I were lucky enough to be introduced to this culinary wonder by our friends Ashley and John, recent transplants to our city and dedicated Sunday dinner attendees. Ashley gave me the essential directions and ingredients and I went to our local Asian market to procure what I needed. As Ashley so aptly put it “It’s one of those things where you buy the ingredients but then you have them so they just live in your fridge until you’re ready to make it again”.

Laksa is something you can make to suit your own tastes: milder, spicier, adding in the veggies and protein that you want. Shrimp? Sure! Noodles? Why not! It’s very flexible – however note that it not necessarily suitable for vegetarians – the Laksa paste I bought had shrimp listed in the ingredients.

One administrative item before we get on to the good part – there is now a “Print & PDF” button at the bottom of my posts. This nifty feature allows you to print posts and recipes (there a button you can check to remove images) or save them as .pdf files on your computer. Handy! I am testing this option so if there is something more convenient that you can suggest, please do so.

For the Laksa that JD and I ate, I decided on onions, mushrooms, and some leftover chicken. So slice a large onion, add to your large soup pot with some oil and cook over medium heat until onion softens, about 5 minutes. (On that note, I feel that I post so many onion photos that the alternate title for this blog could be “photos of sliced onions by Julia”.)

Go ahead and slice some mushrooms – I used basic white mushrooms but you could use any variety. Add them to the onions and cook, stirring, 2-3 more minutes. Giving them time to simmer in the soup is key according to Ashley: “it makes them into mushroomy balls of laksa flavoured deliciousness”.

Add a couple of tablespoons of black bean paste

Add a teaspoon (to start) of ground chilies in oil with garlic – the bottle of which is apparently impossible to photograph (apologies!)

Add your Laksa paste – I could only find this in a single-pot making packet but Ashley assures me that a well-stocked Asian market will have jars of Laksa paste. If you have a packet, add it all. If you have a jar, start with 3-4 tbsp and add more to taste, if needed. She also suggests a 2:1 ratio of Laksa paste to black bean paste.

Add one can of coconut milk and about 3 cups chicken broth

Bring soup to a simmer, cover, and continue simmering for about 15 minutes until vegetables are soft and flavours have blended

Add your protein of choice – I used leftover chicken from a roasted chicken I made earlier in the week but shrimp or tofu would also be great

Like this:

Despite the heat, I have been reluctant to let go of some of the principal comforts of winter, including soup and sleeping with a giant duvet. Cabbage soup typically gets a bad rap but I love the combination of hearty and healthy. This is a riff on another version I make often and it is so much more than the sum of its parts. Plus, the addition of celeriac (aka celery root) gives it something special since it is a lighter, less starchy root with a vague but yummy flavour of celery salt. This is a lovely, smoky soup that is very hearty but won’t weigh you down. Especially since you have all those springtime things to do while your bum print fades from the couch until winter comes round again…

By the way, JD ate three bowls in a row so you know this must pass muster. Alright, on to the directions:

First chop a couple of slice of smoked bacon. I use applewood smoked, 3 thick slices will do nicely.

Then grab yourself a small spicy chorizo (you may use mild if you prefer)

Chop your chorizo into coins, like so

And cook over medium-high heat, so that bacon starts to crisp and the chorizo starts to release its delicious red oil

Add your old friends onion and garlic

Now you can either slice a small cabbage, or half of a large one (so pretty)

Cabbage roughly sliced

Add to your pot and continue to cook on medium heat. It looks daunting at first, but I assure you that it will cook down

This is a celery root. It is ugly but delicious. I cut away the tops and sides and peel any leftover bits with a vegetable peeler.

Roughly chop your celery root into chunks

Add two or three fresh tomatoes, chopped

Add some tomato paste and about 4.5 cups of chicken broth, you want the cabbage to be nearly covered.

This is my trick for tomato paste: buy a large can, brush an ice cube tray with olive oil or spray with cooking spray, fill cubes with tomato paste, freeze, and pop out of tray and store in a plastic bag in the freezer. Saves so much time and effort when you need to add tomato paste to a recipe.

Taste and adjust seasoning. At this point you may also need to add a little more water or stock, depending on how soupy you like it. I added pepper, a pinch of salt, some red pepper flakes. Spanish smoked paprika would also be delicious if you have it on hand. Let simmer another 10 minutes and serve.

Smoky Chorizo and Cabbage Soup

Serves 4 with leftovers

Ingredients

1 small hot chorizo sausage, sliced into coins

3-4 slices of bacon, preferably a smoked variety, chopped

1 medium onion, sliced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 small cabbage, core removed and sliced (or 1/2 a large)

4.5 cups chicken broth

1 small celery root (aka celeriac), peeled and chopped into chunks

2-3 Roma or vine tomatoes, chopped

2 TBSP tomato paste

Salt, pepper, and hot pepper flakes, to taste

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, cook bacon and chorizo until bacon starts to get crispy and chorizo releases its delicious red oil, about 5 minute. If you have more than 2 or 3 tbsp of fat in your pan, remove excess with a spoon.

Add sliced cabbage and stir gently to coat. While you prep the rest of your ingredients, stir cabbage periodically as it cooks down.

Add celery root, chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, and broth to the pot so that cabbage is nearly covered. Cover and allow to simmer for 20-25 minutes until cabbage has greatly shrunk in size and is very soft.

Taste soup and adjust seasonings – you may need a pinch of salt, some pepper, and some hot pepper flakes. Allow to simmer 10 more minutes so that flavours combine.

Hunan hand. It’s serious. So serious in fact that I will reference this scholarly medical definition. I am shocked that more bloggers have not spoken out about this condition sweeping through kitchens all over the world. Well, I am a hunan hand survivor and this is my story.

A few weeks ago I was spending a nice afternoon with my lovely friend Christine. We started talking about a sushi-making party she once threw, she reminded me that I had sung “Grandma Got Runover by a Reindeer” at Karaoke, and I recalled that JD and I had been 3 hours late to the party – because I had hunan hand.

HH (as I like to call it) is a chili burn that you get after handling hot peppers – the capsaicin from the peppers causes skin to have an [often intense] burning sensation. On that fateful night, JD and I had been making hot pepper jelly to give away for Christmas. I had minced over 1lb of jalapenos… the resulting HH caused us to try soaking my hand in milk, water, and even vodka! Let me tell you, it was a waste of perfectly good vodka. After lots of fretting (by me), drinking (by JD), and googling (by both), we reasoned that the only thing that could make HH go away was time. Hence being 3 hours late for the party, missing all the sushi making and arriving only in time for the sushi eating, and obviously, the karaoke.

Although I survived that incident relatively unscathed, I never looked at a hot pepper the same way again. Do yourself a favour – wear gloves, or at least remember to periodically rinse your hands in cold water.

This recipe comes from Gina at Skinnytaste and made a terrific summer meal – would probably also make a great party dip. Next time, I’m going to add some minced garlic.

Juice two limes – or the biggest lime you can find. This lime was so huge, I wondered if it was juicing with steroids

Chop your veggies and herbs

Add your chopped, cooked shrimp

Mix well and allow the flavours to combine in your fridge for a minimum of one hour

Sometimes you want to come home from work, strip down to your unmentionables, pour yourself a stiff drink, and eat an astonishing amount of Thai food.

Don’t let me frighten you away! The actual culinary skill involved for this homemade Thai Red Curry is very little: can you make a blender drink? You can make this. I will admit, though, that assembling the ingredients can be a bit piddly. But that’s ok – one trip to a decently stock Asian market should have you ready to go. I first made this dish while I was at home in Newfoundland visiting my family – if I could track down the ingredients in the land of Fish n Chips, I’d wager you can find them where you are, too.

This recipe is a mish-mash of dozens I have read. I can’t make any guarantees towards authenticity but it is delicious.

Stuff everything into your magic bullet cup (if you’re me ) – or add everything to your blender. If the lime juice/fish sauce/soy sauce is not enough liquid to get things moving, add a few tbsp of your coconut milk.

Why, hello! It’s your new friend, Thai Red Curry paste! Now…please taste a miniscule amount. Literally dip your pinkie finger in and taste this tiniest bit because this is the concentrated paste and as such, it is very, very strong. Adjust as necessary – if you can’t taste the lemongrass, add more. If you find it too sour, add more sugar or tomato paste. Not savoury enough? Add a little more soy sauce or some salt. Is it very spicy? Consider that the coconut milk will calm that. Way, way, way too spicy for you? Add a little more lime juice to calm the heat.

The next step is to sautée your chicken (or whatever protein you wish) just until no longer pink in the middle. About 3-4 minutes per side over medium heat. Set aside.

Now add a little oil to your pan along with 2 to 4 tbsp of your curry paste and apologize for your terrible photo (I’m sorry). For a milder curry, use 2 tbsp of paste; if you like it spicy like we do, use 4 tbsp. The point of this awful photo is to show you that as you cook your red curry paste, it will begin to darken and become fragrant. At this point, add your coconut milk and stir until combined. Then add your veggies (if using), bamboo shoots, and chicken and allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes until veggies are tender and your whole kitchen is engulfed in the smell of Thai food. Serve over steamed rice with lime wedges as a garnish.

Now, eat a ridiculous amount and enjoy. Happy weekend!

P.s. But Julia, you didn’t say what to do with all my leftover curry paste? Leftover red curry paste can be portioned out in tbsp into plastic sandwich bags or containers and frozen for future use. Just defrost your portion of curry paste and proceed with the recipe. A little work upfront makes a lot of lazy weekend suppers, huh?

Sometimes you want to be comforted by your meals. In winter, this often means reaching for another serving of a cheesy casserole or curling up on a stormy day with a big plate of nachos – and there is nothing wrong with that, on occasion.

Making this recipe only further convinced me that there are gratifying, stomach-filling recipes that fit the comfort bill without necessarily bogging you down under thousands of calories.

I came across this recipe purely by accident and found it to be both delicious and very filling – not to mention being egg free, dairy free, low carb and just good for what ails you! It was so filling, in fact, that I could not finished the bowl above. I fed this soup to quite a few friends who dropped by for a visit and 4 dumplings were an average sized portion, 6 for a very hungry person.

Try not to skip the fresh herbs, they really elevate the soup to another level.

Oh, and my recipe is loosely based on this one. I actually found the dumplings to be a bit too dense for my taste. The recipe below will have my adjustments so they are a little more tender.

To make the dumplings, you will need chickpea flour. Before you groan about hunting down an unusual ingredient, let me tell you: chickpea flour is super easy to make. You simply whizz dried chickpeas in your food processor/blender/coffee grinder/whatever. I used a magic bullet and it worked a treat, my only complaint being that it was so loud! Dried chickpeas can be found at your local grocery store, health food store or bulk store.

1. In a medium bowl, combine all the meatball ingredients, adding enough water to form a mixture that is smooth but not sticky. Refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours. Using moistened hands, shape into smooth 1-inch balls, about the size of golf balls.

2. In a large pot, add the olivie oil, sliced onions and celerey and cook until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the chicken broth to lemon juice, turmeric, and salt and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the gundi, cover, and simmer until the gundi are tender, about 40 minutes.

Like this:

Pulled pork is causing lips to smack all over town these days and with good reason. It’s easy to prepare, relatively inexpensive and just plain good. I have been using the same recipe for years now and was relieved in a big way when I realized it is super low-carb and candida diet friendly. Yay!

I should confess right now that my recipe for pulled pork is of the spiced, intensely flavorful variety also called carnitas (aka Mexican pulled pork). It is not the BBQ sauce coated sweet variety (also good, just too sugary for me).

I first made pulled pork for one of JD’s birthday parties a few years ago. I wanted something that would feed lots of bellies but that wouldn’t be too fussy. Pulled Pork Taco Party (or PPTP) became a hit with our friends. I set up the crock pot full of pulled pork and as many toppings as I can think of buffet-style and it’s always a hit. I have been asked for this recipe more times than I care to count….so why not share with everyone?

One word of advice: start early. The recipe yields best results when you cook it on low for 8-10 hours. The low/slow method of cooking allows the collagen to melt down and the pork to become super tender whereupon you can shred it with two forks or pull it apart with your hands.

I often put this recipe in the crock pot on a weekend day when I know I’ll be close to home. I have even done it overnight, which is also nice since you wake up with perfectly cooked pork roast and you can shred and refrigerate until needed.

Pulled Pork aka Carnitas

2 tsp salt

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp ground cumin

1-1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano

1-1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

1 tbsp chili powder

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 (4 pound) boneless pork shoulder roast

2 bay leaves

2 cups chicken broth (or other broth)

1 can green chilis (optional – I occasionally add these just to shake things up)

1 packet stevia (or 1 tbsp brown sugar, or honey – optional)

1. If there is a rind of skin and fat on your pork roast, remove as much of it as you can with a sharp knife and discard.

2. Mix your spices together in a bowl.

3. Rub spices into your pork roast, taking care to rub them into any nooks and crannies.

8. Skim fat off your braising liquid and discard bay leaves. Stir in one can of green chilies (optional) and stevia. At this point you can either boil this mixture down so it is a thicker sauce and season pork with it or you can add it to pork, as-is, and roast in a 350 degree oven so the pork gets little crispy bits and the sauce keeps the meat juicy (as pictured above).

There are some major changes happening in my life so the blog format will be changing, too. However, the explanation can wait…recipes first, chitter chatter later.

This post may result in an incredulous e-mail from my mother but…I have discovered a new way to roast a chicken. I realize that’s kind of like saying “I discovered a new way to roll a wheel” but, hey, try it.

This chicken is very loosely based on the Judy Rodgers’ version (of Zuni Café fame). Basically, you wash, pat dry and salt a chicken as soon as you know you want to have it for dinner. The original recipe states 24 hours but I usually only figure out dinner the day of.

You salt and pepper the whole chicken (be liberal, it’s ok), put the chicken back on a platter and stick it in the fridge. The cold, dry air of your refrigerator will help yield a crispy chicken skin and extremely juicy meat.

Take the chicken out of the fridge about an hour before you intend to cook it so that it can come to room temperature. A cold chicken won’t cook evenly. Preheat your oven to 400F (see note below as you may need to heat your oven to 425 or even 450).

Here’s another secret… separate the cloves from a bulb of garlic. Leave them unpeeled. Stick them into the chicken cavity and seal the cavity with a toothpick. Super garlicky chicken + amazing roasted garlic = love.

Roast the chicken breast side up for 20 minutes, flip and roast breast side down for another 20 minutes (for even cooking), and finally turn again and roast breast-side up for the final 20 minutes. That’s it. One hour in a hot oven + resting and you will be amazed at how juicy and delicious your chicken is.

Crispy Garlicky Roasted Chicken

**UPDATE: You may want to roast your chicken for another 10 minutes or so if you cut into it and the thigh is still pink near the bone. Or you can raise the temperature of your oven by 25 or 50 degrees. This depends on your oven and your personal preferences. Just be careful not to over-cook. My oven is very small so it is very hot and 60 minutes at 400 degrees does the trick. As with many recipes, your mileage may vary! Enjoy.

– One 3-4lb chicken

– 1.5 tsp sea salt

– 1 tsp pepper

– 1 bulb of garlic, cloves separated but left unpeeled

1. Salt and pepper chicken as soon as you think of roasting on – sometime between 2 and 24 hours before. Return salted chicken to the refrigerator.

2. Remove chicken 1 hour before ready to cook and allow to come to room temperature, more or less.

3. Preheat oven to 400F and fill cavity with garlic cloves and seal cavity closed using a toothpick.

4. Using a small* roasting pan or dish, add a little olive oil to the pan and then add the chicken breast side up. Roast 20 minutes.

5. Turn chicken breast side down and continue to roast another 20 minutes.

6. Flip chicken once more and roast breast side up for the final 20 minutes.

7. Allow chicken to rest for 20 minutes so that juices can redistribute. Remove roasted garlic from cavity and serve alongside chicken.

*It is essential to use a roasting pan or dish or even pie plate approximately the same size of your chicken. This will ensure that the juices and fat that come from the chicken don’t burn.

JD and I were actually thinking that roasted chicken should be our new Sunday thing. You can’t beat the smell of a bird in the oven, now can you? Plus when I brought JD a sample of chicken to taste his response was something like “Ohhh yeahh!!!” (think of the Kool-Aid man here, folks).

Another brainwave that I had last night was to use pesto as salad dressing. For reasons I will elaborate on later, I can’t have any vinegar so life is a bit dull where salads are concerned. Anyway I don’t have a name for this salad, it just floated into my mind. Maybe I’ll call it Pesto Salad…

I forgot to buy pine nuts….almonds it is!

The ubiquitous magic bullet

Pesto Salad (serves 2 generously)

– 3-4 cups mixed greens (I love love love pre-washed greens)

– 2 roma tomatoes, sliced (or the best tomatoes you can find in winter)

– 2 oz of soft goat’s cheese, crumbled

For the Pesto

– 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts or almonds

– 2 cloves garlic, peeled

– 2 cups basil, loosely packed

– 1/4 cup olive oil (be geneous, this is a salad dressing after all)

– 1-2 tsbp of lemon juice, to taste

1. In a large bowl, arrange the tomatoes and the mixed greens, set aside.

2. For the pesto, toast the nuts in a hot, dry pan until they start to brown, about 3-4 minutes (watch closely).

I recently had some allergy testing done – 6 vials of blood later, quite a lot of foods and environmental elements are tested in a lab and the results returned to my doctor. It seems I am allergic to eggs and yeast. Who knew?! We were certainly shocked. Not only that, many of the symptoms and weird ailments I have been experiencing can be tied in to a yeast overgrowth. Everyone has both good bacteria and yeast in their gut. However, if yeast grows unchecked, it can release toxins into your body causing all manner of ridiculous symptoms: fatigue, mood swings, inability to lose weight, ear, nose and eye issues, gastrointestinal issues….I could go on.

Having learned all of this, my doctor recommended that I follow what is known as the Candida Diet. It is essentially a way of eating that does not include any foods that feed yeast – think sugary, starchy foods along with fruits, vinegars, mushrooms, alcohol, etc. Sounds hard, right? Well, it is and it isn’t. It is very similar to a diet low in carbohydrates but is at the same time more restrictive and less restrictive than a low-carb diet. By which I mean, no vinegar means no condiments such as mustard, bbq sauce, hot sauce, soya sauce, etc. Vinegar feeds yeast. On the other hand, there is room for whole grains, nuts and legumes in moderation.

So all this to say my blog will take on something of a healthier spin. I will still be baking, I just may not be the one eating my creations. I should also point out that the Candida Diet is challenging even for experienced cooks. By blogging about it, hopefully the recipes and meals I come up with can help others. I know there is a LOT of contradictory information on the internet about the Candida Diet so my approach has been to go by what my doctor recommends and take it slow. I tried some whole wheat noodles at sushi the other day – that was a huge no. I tried some unsweetened coconut milk (now packaged like rice, soy or almond milk) and that was a huge YES.

So stay tuned for a mixture of low-carb, candida-killing, super tasty and healthy posts.